UPDATE 1-Exxon upbeat on Mexico oil reform, BHP sees potential

HOUSTON Dec 12 (Reuters) - Opening Mexico's oil sector to
foreign investors would be a "win-win" for all involved, an
Exxon Mobil Corp executive said on Thursday.

Mexico's Congress on Thursday passed a landmark reform to
let private investors into the country's ailing energy sector,
the biggest shake up of the state-run industry in 75 years.

"To put it bluntly, we believe that would be very good for
the people of Mexico," William Colton, the company's vice
president of corporate strategic planning, told reporters on a
webcast from Washington before Mexico's lower house gave final
approval to the reform.

"We think that would be a win-win if ever there was one," he
said.

Experts have said the world's leading oil companies will
need to see final investment terms and new regulations before
deciding whether to do business in the country.

"We have to keep an eye on those," Tim Cutt, head of
petroleum at resources giant BHP Billiton, said
of Mexico's reforms as both the Eagle Ford shale and Permian
Basin in Texas as well as the U.S. Gulf of Mexico abut Mexican
borders.

It is "a decent extrapolation" that similar opportunities
exist across the border, given the close proximity of the
onshore and offshore basins, Cutt told reporters in Houston.